The More Young People Go On Social Media, The More Isolated They Feel

Trending News: Why Going On Facebook So Much Is Making You Lonely

Long Story Short

A new study has found that social media isn't really that social — in fact, it makes users who comb through feeds for longer than two hours per day feel more isolated.

Long Story

Karen went to Bali and had the best f*cking time. James has a new job that he's super excited about. Oh, and look, Diego and his wife just had a kid.

Social media is a place where we share our greatest accomplishments to the world — but consuming all this happiness isn't making us feel more connected with our friends, as social media companies like Facebook aim to do. Rather, whether it's Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus (whoever still uses that), social media makes us feel more isolated.

This conclusion came from the results of a study published the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The researchers gave questionnaires to nearly 1,800 adults aged 19 to 32 about how much time they spend on social media. Researchers also measured the participants' perceived social isolation using a validated assessment tool called the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System.

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It turned out that for people who spend more than two hours per day on social media, social isolation was twice as high. And for heavy users that use various social media platforms 58 or more times per week, perceived social isolation was three times higher than people who checked in on things fewer than nine times per week.

The study's co-senior author Elizabeth Miller said she's not sure if isolated people turn to social media, or if social media makes people isolated, but at the end of the day, social media doesn't make people feel more connected.

"It's possible that young adults who initially felt socially isolated turned to social media," she said in a press release. "Or it could be that their increased use of social media somehow led to feeling isolated from the real world. It also could be a combination of both. But even if the social isolation came first, it did not seem to be alleviated by spending time online, even in purportedly social situations."

These results are pretty fascinating considering that if you ever talk to someone who doesn't use Facebook very often — or at all — the question is always, how do you stay connected? Connected with friends, the news, the acquaintances you wouldn't call up or send an email to... But this shows that instead of being connected, social media is singling us out.

"I don't doubt that some people using certain platforms in specific ways may find comfort and social connectedness via social media relationships," said lead author Brian A. Primack. "However, the results of this study simply remind us that, on the whole, use of social media tends to be associated with increased social isolation and not decreased social isolation."